122 O. J. Malm, R. Nicola ysen and L. Skjelkvale 



would be required. On the other hand the considerable 

 material of Ohlson et al. (1952) in women can be included in 

 the discussion, and this has recently been done (Nicolaysen 

 et al., 1953). Nothing indicates that urinary Ca is increased 

 in elderly men and women. However, such a contention is 

 far from conclusive, because comparison between indivi- 

 duals suffers from great variability. No. 200 as well as No. 551 

 were not only high urinary excretors, but they seemed to 

 keep the high urinary Ca level with tenacity. It may be that 

 they represent the type that in the course of time may 

 develop senile osteoporosis with hospitalisation as a 

 consequence. 



The two different types of observations presented in Fig. 3 

 may indicate that the men above fifty, who retained Ca so 

 well, did so because they had been somewhat demineralized 

 in the years prior to the actual balance study. 



Nothing in the material here presented indicates that the 

 Ca metabolism of men above fifty differs from that in younger 

 men. On the other hand the limitations of the material are 

 obvious, so that it does not allow of any final conclusion as 

 regards the origin of senile osteoporosis as related to dietary 

 intake of calcium and vitamin D. 



It does not seem profitable to continue to w^ork with an 

 arbitrarily chosen material; however, adequate balance 

 studies in a selected material of senile osteoporotics combined 

 with the load method of Schilling and Lazslo (1951) might 

 in the course of some years contribute definitely to the 

 solution. 



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 AcKERMANN, P.O., and ToRO, G. (19536). J. Geront., 8, 451. 

 Albright, F., and Reifenstein, E. C. (1948). The Parathyroid Glands 



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 BoGONOFF, M. D., Shock, N. W., and Nichols, M. P. (1953). J. Geront., 



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 Hegsted, D. M., Moscoso, I., and Collazos, Ch. J. I. (1952). J. 



Nutrit., 46, 181. 

 Liu, C. H., and McCay, C. M. (1953). J. Geront., 8, 264. 



